Apparatus and method for controlling adaptive beamforming gain in wireless communication system

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and a method for controlling a beamforming gain in a wireless communication system are provided. The method includes determining whether to control a beamforming gain, controlling the beamforming gain via change of a beam width if it is determined to control the beamforming gain, and transmitting or receiving a signal according to the controlled beamforming gain.

PRIORITY

This application is a continuation application of prior application Ser.No. 13/780,561, filed Feb. 28, 2013, which will issue as U.S. Pat. No.9,478,857 on Oct. 25, 2016, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of Korean patent applications filed in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office on Mar. 2, 2012 and Feb. 28, 2013 and assigned SerialNos. 10-2012-0021854 and 10-2013-0021894, respectively, the entiredisclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a beamforming in a wirelesscommunication system.

2. Description of the Related Art

A transmission end of a wireless communication system may generate andtransmit an electric signal using an antenna, and a reception end of thewireless communication system may receive an electric signal transmittedby the transmission end via a radio channel. As a model for a gain of areceived signal at the reception end that may be obtained via abeamforming gain at a transmission/reception antenna, a Friis equationmay be used.

FIG. 1 illustrates a transmission end and a reception end of a wirelesscommunication system according to the related art.

Referring to FIG. 1, a transmission end 110 and a reception end 120 ofthe related-art wireless communication system are shown. In a case wherea transmission antenna having a beamforming gain G_(t) and a receptionantenna having a beamforming gain G_(r) are separated by a distance d,the Friis equation is given by Equation 1.

$\begin{matrix}{P_{r} = {P_{t}\frac{G_{t}G_{r}\lambda^{2}}{16\;\pi^{2}d^{2}}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 1}\end{matrix}$

In Equation 1, P_(r) is power of a reception signal, P_(t) is power of atransmission signal, G_(t) is an antenna gain of a transmitter, G_(r) isan antenna gain of a receiver, λ is the length of a wavelength, and d isa distance between the transmitter and the receiver. The antenna gain ofthe transmitter may be referred to as a transmission beamforming gain,and the antenna gain of the receiver may be referred to as a receptionbeamforming gain.

Equation 1 may be applicable to free space. Therefore, when it isapplied to a real system, some change may be given to Equation 1according to characteristics of a radio channel Equation 1 shows thatpower received in the receiver is proportional to a gain value of anantenna of the transmitter and the receiver. When transmission power andgain values of transmission beamforming and reception beamforming areraised via the Friss equation, a quality of a reception signal at thereception end may be improved.

FIG. 2 illustrates beam training in a wireless communication systemaccording to the related art.

Referring to FIG. 2, a beamforming gain value at a Base Station (BS) 210is expressed by G_(BS) and a beamforming gain value at Mobile Station(MS) 220 is expressed by G_(MS). Herein, an MS may be referred as a UserEquation (UE) and may be any portable electronic terminal that mayaccess a wireless communication system. In order to increase efficiencyof a transmission signal and a reception signal between the BS 210 andthe MS 220, a process for matching a direction of a signal of the BS 210having a specific direction with a direction of a signal of the MS 220is needed. Generally, the process for matching the directions of signalsis referred to as beam training. The beam training is a procedure formaximizing a power value of a reception signal in the Friss equationdescribed with reference to FIG. 1 by accurately matching the directionof a transmission signal with the direction of a reception signal.

A beam training procedure at a downlink is described below withreference to FIG. 2. The BS 210 having a G_(BS), which is a fixedbeamforming gain, transmits a unique sequence in a unique direction. Theunique sequence is mapped to a beam index as 1:1, and the MS 220 maydiscriminate from which direction a best beam is received. The MS 220may receive beams via a plurality of directions having a G_(Ms), whichis a fixed beamforming gain with respect to one beam index of the BS210, and may then determine from which direction a signal having ahighest power may be received. The above procedure may be applicable toan uplink in the same manner. In this case, the transmission end becomesthe MS 220, and the reception end becomes the BS 210. For example, asillustrated in FIG. 2, in the case where the BS 210 has five beamindexes beam_1 211, beam_2 212, beam_3 213, beam_4 214, and beam_5 215,and the MS 220 has three beam indexes beam_1 221, beam_2 222, and beam_3223, since the beam_3 213 of the BS 210 and the beam_2 222 of the MS 220face each other, a combination of the beam_3 213 of the BS 210 and thebeam_2 222 of the MS 220 may maximize reception power at the receptionend.

Through the above beam training, an optimized beam index at thetransmission end and an optimized beam index at the reception end may bedetermined so that reception power at the reception end may bemaximized. The above beam training procedure may be performedperiodically or may be event-driven. Generally, in the case where an MShas mobility, the beam training procedure is performed periodically, andin this case, when the beam training procedure is performed in a shortperiod, a training overhead may be very large. Therefore, whenmaximization of power may be achieved more effectively during beamtraining, an overhead by the beam training procedure may be reduced.

Therefore, a need exists for a system and method for controllingadaptive beamforming gain in a wireless communication system.

The above information is presented as background information only toassist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determinationhas been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the abovemight be applicable as prior art with regard to the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the present invention are to address at least theabove-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at leastthe advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the presentinvention is to provide an apparatus and a method for performingefficient beamforming in a wireless communication system.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and amethod for reducing an overhead by a beam training procedure in awireless communication system.

Still another aspect of the present invention is to provide an apparatusand a method for controlling a beam gain in a wireless communicationsystem.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a method foroperating a communication node in a wireless communication system isprovided. The method includes determining whether to control abeamforming gain, controlling the beamforming gain via change of a beamwidth if it is determined to control the beamforming gain, andtransmitting or receiving a signal according to the controlledbeamforming gain.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method foroperating a communication node in a wireless communication system isprovided. The method includes determining whether to control abeamforming gain of a counterpart node, and transmitting a messageindicating a beamforming gain control to the counterpart node if it isdetermined to control the beamforming gain.

In accordance with further another aspect of the present invention, acommunication node apparatus in a wireless communication system isprovided. The apparatus includes a controller for determining whether tocontrol a beamforming gain and for controlling the beamforming gain viachange of a beam width if it is determined to control the beamforminggain, and a communication unit for transmitting or receiving a signalaccording to the controlled beamforming gain.

In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, acommunication node apparatus in a wireless communication system isprovided. The apparatus includes a controller for determining whether tocontrol a beamforming gain of a counterpart node, and a communicationunit for transmitting a message indicating a beamforming gain control tothe counterpart node if it is determined to control the beamforming gainof the counterpart node.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainexemplary embodiments of the present invention will be more apparentfrom the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a transmission end and a reception end of a wirelesscommunication system according to the related art;

FIG. 2 illustrates beam training in a wireless communication systemaccording to the related art;

FIG. 3 illustrates a relation between a beam width and a beamforminggain in a wireless communication system according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates signal exchange for providing beamforming relatedcapability information in a wireless communication system according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an uplink transmission beamforming gain control in awireless communication system according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a downlink reception beamforming gain control in awireless communication system according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates an operating procedure of a Base Station (BS), forcontrolling a transmission beamforming gain of a Mobile Station (MS) ina wireless communication system according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates an operating procedure of an MS, for controlling atransmission beamforming gain of the MS in a wireless communicationsystem according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates an operating procedure of a BS, for controlling areception beamforming gain of an MS in a wireless communication systemaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates an operating procedure of an MS, for controlling areception beamforming gain of the MS in a wireless communication systemaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 illustrates a BS in a wireless communication system according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 illustrates an MS in a wireless communication system accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 13A to 13C illustrate a beamforming apparatus according to abeamforming method in a wireless communication system according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 14 illustrates an operating procedure of a communication node in awireless communication system according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals will be understood torefer to like parts, components and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplaryembodiments of the invention as defined by the claims and theirequivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in thatunderstanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications of the embodiments described hereincan be made without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions andconstructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by theinventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of theinvention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not forthe purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claimsand their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes referenceto one or more of such surfaces.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for controllingadaptive beamforming gain in a wireless communication system. Exemplaryembodiments of the present invention provide a technology for performingbeamforming more efficiently in a wireless communication system.Hereinafter, the present exemplary embodiments are described using anOrthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) and/or an OrthogonalFrequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) wireless communication systemas an example. However, the present invention is not limited thereto,and the exemplary embodiments may be applied to any suitable and orsimilar wireless communication system using beamforming.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when anindex of a beam is determined via a beam training procedure, at leastone of a transmission end and a reception end may control a beamforminggain without changing a direction of the beam. For controlling thebeamforming gain, the transmission end or the reception end may increasethe beamforming gain by controlling a beam width.

FIG. 3 illustrates a relation between a beam width and a beamforminggain in a wireless communication system according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, in a Base Station (BS) 310, a beamforming gainvalue corresponding to a beam width of W_(BS1) may be expressed byG_(BS1), and a beamforming gain value corresponding to a beam width ofW_(BS2) may be expressed by G_(BS2). Also, in a Mobile Station (MS) 320,a beamforming gain value corresponding to a beam width of W_(MS1) may beexpressed by G_(MS1), a beamforming gain value corresponding to a beamwidth of W_(MS2) may be expressed by G_(MS2), and a beamforming gainvalue corresponding to a beam width of W_(MS3) may be expressed byG_(MS3). At this point, relations of ‘W_(BS1)>W_(BS2)’ and‘G_(BS1)<G_(BS2)’ are met and relations of ‘W_(MS1)>W_(MS2)>W_(MS3) and‘G_(MS1)<G_(MS2)<G_(MS3)’ are met. That is, the beam width and thebeamforming gains are inversely proportional to each other.

In the present exemplary embodiment, it may be assumed that a fixedbeamforming gain value at the BS 310 is applied to beam training isG_(BS1) and a gain value of a fixed beamforming at the MS 320 isG_(MS1). The BS 310 and the MS 320 may determine beam indexes at statesof the beamforming gains G_(BS1) and G_(MS1). After determining the beamindexes, the BS 310 and the MS 320 may increase a beamforming gain valueby controlling a beam width. For example, when the BS 310 controls abeam width using W_(BS2), then the beamforming gain increases toG_(BS2). Also, when the MS 320 controls a beam width using W_(MS3), thenthe beamforming gain increases to G_(MS3). When a beamforming gainincreases, a reception power value at a reception end increases evenmore. Therefore, according to the present exemplary embodiment, atechnique for adaptively controlling a gain value of beamforming bycontrolling a beam width is provided.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the BS 310 and the MS 320 may control abeamforming gain by controlling a beam width. Since the beamforming ofthe present exemplary embodiment forms a beam by changing a phase foreach antenna, the control of the beam width may also be performed bychanging of a phase for each antenna. Therefore, in order to control thebeam width, the MS 320 may possess a set of a plurality of phasecombinations. In a case of digital beamforming, the phase combinationmay be denoted by a precoding matrix.

The set of phase combinations may be stored in the MS 320 in advance.However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the set ofphase combinations may be provided as system information from the BS310, or may be provided in any similar and/or suitable manner. Also,according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, theset of phase combinations may change under a control of a BS.

FIG. 4 illustrates signal exchange for providing beamforming relatedcapability information in a wireless communication system according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, a procedure for providing information regarding thebeamforming related capability includes three steps 401, 403, and 405.Among the three steps, one of step 401 and step 405 may be omitted butthe BS should obtain a beamforming related capability of an MS 420 viathe procedure of step 403. The procedure for providing informationregarding the beamforming related capability illustrated in FIG. 4 maybe performed as a portion of a network entry procedure. Particularly,the procedure for providing information regarding the beamformingrelated capability illustrated in FIG. 4 may be performed as a portionof capability negotiation of the network entry procedure. Each stepillustrated in FIG. 4 is described below specifically.

A BS 410 may request MS 420 to transmit information regardingbeamforming related capability in step 401. That is, the base station410 transmits a capability message request to the MS 420. The capabilitymessage request indicates a requested item. For example, the capabilitymessage request may include a field represented in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Field Descriptions Beamforming Capability Information onbeamforming Information that an MS may support.

For another example, the capability message request may include at leastone of fields represented in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Field Descriptions Beamforming A request for information on Gainbeamforming gains that an MS may support. Number A request forinformation on the number of of Beams beamforming directions that an MSmay support.

The MS 420 may transmit the information regarding the beamformingrelated capability to the base station 410 in step 403. In other words,the MS 420 transmits a capability message response to the base station410. The capability message response may include information regarding acontrol range of a beamforming gain. For example, the capability messageresponse may include at least one of fields represented in Table 3,Table 4, or Table 5.

TABLE 3 Field Descriptions Number of Beams A request for information onthe number of beamforming directions that an MS may support. MaximumMaximum value among beamforming Beamforming gains that an MS maysupport. Gain Minimum Minimum value among beamforming Beamforming gainsthat an MS may support. Gain Beamforming A difference between twoadjacent Gain Step beamforming gains that an MS may support.

TABLE 4 Field Descriptions Number of Beams A request for information onthe number of beamforming directions that an MS may support. Number ofAvailable The number of beamforming gains Beamforming Gains that an MSmay support. G_(MS1) Gain value of first beamforming. . . . G_(MSN) Gainvalue of N^(th) beamforming.

TABLE 5 Field Descriptions Number of Beams A request for information onthe number of beamforming directions that an MS may support. BeamformingPrecoding matrix set that Precoding an MS may support. Matrix

The base station 410 informs the MS 420 of beamforming related indexinformation in step 405. In other words, the base station 410 transmitscapability message confirm to the MS 420. For example, the capabilitymessage confirm may include at least one of fields represented in Table6 and Table 7.

TABLE 6 Field Descriptions Number of Number of indices mapped to BeamIndex beams that an MS may support. Number of Number of indices mappedto beamforming Beamforming gains that an MS may support. Gain Index

TABLE 7 Field Descriptions Number of Number of indices mapped to BeamIndex beams that an MS may support. Index of Beamforming Index ofprecoding matrix Precoding Matrix Set set that an MS may support.

As in the procedure illustrated in FIG. 4, the base station 410 mayadaptively control a gain value of beamforming of the MS 420 byobtaining the number of available beams, the number of beamforming gainvalues, and gain values of the MS 420, or by obtaining informationregarding a precoding matrix for beamforming.

FIG. 5 illustrates signal exchange for an uplink transmissionbeamforming gain control in a wireless communication system according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

When beam training between a base station 510 and MS 520 is completed,at least one of a beam index, a beamforming direction, and a beamforminggain value at the MS 520 may be determined. The beam index may representa beamforming direction and a beamforming gain value prescribed betweenthe base station 510 and the MS 520. The beam direction and thebeamforming gain value determined via the beam training procedure may beapplied when the MS 520 transmits a signal to the base station 510. Thebeam index may not change until a subsequent beam training procedure isperformed.

When transmitting uplink data, the MS 520 transmits a signal using aspecific beam direction, a specific beamforming gain value GMS_T, and aspecific power value PMS. Since the beamforming gain at the MS 520 maybe a fixed value depending on a kind of beamforming, the MS 520 mayimprove reception signal quality at the base station 510 by controllinga transmission power value. However, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, in a case where the MS 520 has adirectional antenna, the MS 520 may adaptively control a beamforminggain value as well as the power value.

Referring to FIG. 5, the MS 520 transmits a signal to the base station510 in step 501. At this point, a transmission beamforming gain of thesignal is GMS_T. Next, the base station 510 calculates reception signalquality in step 503. The reception signal quality may be a value of aReceived Signal Strength (RSS), a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), aSignal-to-Interface Ratio (SIR), a Signal-to-Interference and NoiseRatio (SINR), a Bit Error Rate (BER), a Packet Error Rate (PER), or anyother similar and/or suitable value, or may be a deviation or a variancerepresenting an average amount of change of the RSS, the SNR, the SIR,the SINR, the BER, the PER, or the any other similar and/or suitablevalue. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and thereception signal quality may be a value representing mobility of the MSand may be a movement velocity or a change value of a position of theMS.

Next, in step 505, the base station 510 transmits a beamforming gaincontrol message in order to increase or reduce a transmissionbeamforming gain to the MS 520. For example, in the case where the basestation 510, which has received a Radio Frequency (RF) signal from theMS 520, determines that the reception signal quality is less than apredetermined threshold and the reception signal quality may beimproved, the base station 510 may transmit a beamforming gain controlmessage in order to increase a transmission beamforming gain by aspecific value, +β_(t), to the MS 520. On the contrary, when determiningthat the reception signal quality is greater than the predeterminedthreshold, the base station 510 may transmit a message in order to notchange the beamforming gain or in order to reduce the beamforming gainby a specific value, −β_(t), to the MS 520. β_(t) has a real numbervalue. In the case where the gain is not changed, β_(t) may be set to‘0’. In a case of raising or lowering the transmission beamforming gain,a Decibel (dB) unit may be used to express an increase or decreaseamount of a transmission beamforming gain.

Also, the beamforming gain control message may include Beamforming GainControl (BGC) information. According to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention, the BGC information may include one or more bits. Forexample, in a case where the BGC information includes 1 bit, ‘0’ may bedefined as a command to lower a transmission beamforming gain, and ‘1’may be defined as a command to increase the beamforming gain. Foranother example, in a case where the BGC information includes 2 bits,‘00’ may be defined as a command to lower the transmission beamforminggain, ‘11’ may be defined as a command to increase the transmissionbeamforming gain, and ‘01’ and ‘10’ may be defined as a command tomaintain the transmission beamforming gain. For still another example,in the case where the BGC information includes a plurality of bits,absolute values of the beamforming gain may be allocated to a pluralityof bit combinations. For example, in the case where the BGC informationincludes 3 bits, ‘000’ may be defined to indicate 0 dB, ‘001’ toindicate +1 dB, ‘010’ to indicate +2 dB, ‘011’ to indicate +3 dB, ‘100’to indicate −1 dB, ‘101’ to indicate −2 dB, and ‘110’ to indicate −3 dB.For another example, in the case where “the number of beamforming gainindexes” field represented in Table 6 is used, a specific beamforminggain value may be allocated to a specific bit stream. For example, ‘00’may be allocated 0 dB, ‘01’ may be allocated 5 dB, ‘10’ may be allocated10 dB, and ‘11’ may be allocated 20 dB.

Also, in case of controlling the beamforming gain using β_(t), since thedirection of a signal transmitted by the MS 520 may change, a finedirection control parameter, α_(t), for beam direction control for moreaccurately controlling a beam direction that was originally determinedin the beam training, and a beamforming gain may be transmitted. Thefine direction control parameter α_(t) may be information representingat least one of a direction and an angle, or may be an index valuerepresenting at least one of a direction and an angle prescribed betweenthe base station 510 and the MS 520. A specific value of a, may bedetermined as a value of a degree for controlling an error value of abeam direction generated due to beamforming gain control by β_(t)without greatly changing the direction of the beam determined during thebeam training process due to application of α₁.

Also, since a transmission power value P_(MS) may change according toβ_(t) and α_(t), information regarding an amount of change in the powervalue ΔP may be also included in the beamforming gain control signal. Atthis point, the base station 510 may not directly transmit β_(t), α_(t),and ΔP, but rather, other types of values may be used. For example, inorder to control β_(t), α_(t), and ΔP, the base station 510 may use anindex mapped to the beamforming gain and the direction prescribedbetween the base station 510 and the MS 520 or the base station 510 mayuse an index of a precoding matrix. In other words, the base station 510may transmit the index instead of directly transmitting β_(t), α_(t),and ΔP. The precoding matrix may be formed of values capable ofcontrolling the magnitude and phase of a digital signal at a digitalend, or may be formed of values controlling the magnitude and phase ofan analog signal at an end right before an antenna.

In step 507, the MS 520 may transmit a signal using a transmissionbeamforming gain controlled according to an indication of the basestation 510. In other words, the MS 520 may transmit a signal reflectingthe beamforming gain in step 507. That is, the transmission beamforminggain may be G_(MS_T)−β_(t) or G_(MS_T)+β_(t). For example, in a case ofincreasing the transmission beamforming gain, the MS 520 may reduce awidth of a transmission beam. In a case of reducing the transmissionbeamforming gain, the MS 520 may increase the width of the transmissionbeam. In other words, the MS 520 may form a transmission beam accordingto a changed beam width.

In the present exemplary embodiment described with reference to FIG. 5,the base station 510 may increase a transmission beamforming gain of theMS 520 in order to raise reception signal quality. However, depending ona communication environment, reducing the transmission beamforming gain,that is, widening the beam width, may increase the reception signalquality. In other words, a correlation between a comparison result ofthe signal quality and the threshold and transmission beamforming gainincrease or decrease may change depending on a communicationenvironment.

For example, the correlation may change depending on whether a radiochannel of the base station 510 and the MS 520 is in a Line Of Sight(LOS) environment or in a Non-LOS (NLOS) environment. Specifically, in acase where the radio channel of the base station 510 and the MS 520 isin the LOS environment, raising a transmission beamforming gain, thatis, narrowing a beam width, may increase reception intensity. On thecontrary, in a case where the radio channel is in the NLOS environment,lowering the transmission beamforming gain within a predetermined range,that is, widening the beam width, may increase the reception intensitybecause the number of multi-paths may increase when the beam widthwidens. Whether the radio channel is in the LOS or the NLOS environmentmay be determined using an amount of change in a channel Therefore,though not shown in FIG. 5, the base station 510 may determine whetherthe radio channel is in the LOS or the NLOS environment by comparing anamount of change in the channel with a specific threshold, and the basestation 510 may increase or reduce the transmission beamforming gainaccording to a correlation corresponding to the determination result.

For another example, the correlation may change according to themovement velocity of the MS 520. Specifically, in a case where themovement velocity of the MS 520 is less than a specific threshold,raising the transmission beamforming gain, that is, narrowing the beamwidth, may increase reception intensity. On the contrary, in a casewhere the movement velocity of the MS 520 is greater than the specificthreshold, reducing the transmission beamforming gain within apredetermined range, that is, widening the beam width, may increase thereception intensity. The base station 510 may determine the movementvelocity of the MS 520 according to position information measured orreported by the MS 520, or according to an amount of change in thechannel Therefore, though not shown in FIG. 5, the base station 510 mayestimate the movement velocity of the MS 520 and may compare themovement velocity with a specific threshold, and then may increase ordecrease the transmission beamforming gain according to a correlationcorresponding to the comparison result.

FIG. 6 illustrates signal exchange for a downlink reception beamforminggain control in a wireless communication system according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, when transmitting downlink data, a base station 610transmits a signal, and MS 620 receives a signal using a specific beamdirection and a specific reception beamforming gain value G_(MS_R). Atthis point, in a case where the MS 620 uses directional beamforming, theMS 620 may control the reception beamforming gain value.

In step 601, the base station 610 may transmit an RF signal to the MS620. At this point, the reception beamforming gain of the signal isG_(MS_R). In addition, the MS 620 that has received the RF signal fromthe base station 610 may measure reception signal quality in step 603,and then, in step 605, the MS 620 may report the signal quality to thebase station 610. The reception signal quality may be a value of a RSS,SNR, SIR, SINR, BER, PER, and any other similar and/or suitable value,or may be a deviation or a variance representing an average amount ofchange in the RSS, SNR, SIR, SINR, BER, PER, and the any other similarand/or suitable value. Alternatively, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, the reception signal quality may bea value representing the mobility of the MS 620 and may be a movementvelocity or a change value of a position of the MS 620.

The base station 610, which has received the reception signal quality,may transmit a beamforming gain control message in order to increase orreduce the reception beamforming gain in step 607. For example, in acase where the base station 610 determines that the reported receptionsignal quality is less than a predetermined threshold, and determinesthat the reception signal quality should be improved, then the basestation 610 may transmit a beamforming gain control message to the MS620 in order to increase the reception beamforming gain by a specificvalue+β_(r). On the contrary, in a case where the base station 610determines that the reported reception signal quality is greater thanthe predetermined threshold, the base station 610 may transmit abeamforming gain control message to the MS 620 in order to reduce thereception beamforming gain by a specific value−β_(r). β_(r) has a realnumber value. In a case where the gain is not controlled, or in otherwords, the gain is not change, β_(r) may be set to ‘0’.

Also, in a case of controlling the beamforming gain using β_(r), sincethe direction of a signal transmitted by the MS 620 may change, a finedirection control parameter α_(r), which is for beam direction controlthat is capable of more accurately controlling a beam directiondetermined in the original beam training, as well as a beamforming gainmay be transmitted. The fine direction control parameter α_(r) may beinformation representing at least one of a direction and an angle, ormay be an index value representing at least one of a direction and anangle prescribed between the base station 610 and the MS 620. A specificvalue of α_(r) may be determined as a value of a degree for controllingan error value of a beam direction generated due to beamforming gaincontrol by β_(r) without greatly changing a direction of the beamdetermined during the beam training process due to application of α_(r).

At this point, the base station 610 may not directly transmit β_(r) andα_(r), but rather, other types of values may be used. For example, inorder to control β_(r) and α_(r), the base station 610 may use an indexmapped to the beamforming gain and direction prescribed between the basestation 610 and the MS 620 or may use an index of a precoding matrix. Inother words, the base station 610 may transmit the index instead ofdirectly transmitting β_(r) and α_(r). The precoding matrix may beformed of values for controlling a magnitude and a phase of a digitalsignal at a digital end, or may be formed of values for controlling themagnitude and the phase of an analog signal at an end or locationdisposed right before an antenna.

Next, in step 607, the MS 620 may transmit a signal using a receptionbeamforming gain controlled according to an indication of the basestation 610. That is, the reception beamforming gain is G_(MS_R)−β_(r)or G_(MS_R)+β_(r). For example, in a case of increasing the receptionbeamforming gain, the MS 620 may reduce the width of a reception beam.In a case of reducing the reception beamforming gain, the MS 620 mayincrease the width of the reception beam. In other words, the MS 620 mayform a reception beam according to a changed beam width.

In the present exemplary embodiment described with reference to FIG. 6,the base station 610 may increase a reception beamforming gain of the MS620 in order to raise reception signal quality. However, depending on acommunication environment, reducing the reception beamforming gain, thatis, widening the beam width, may increase the reception signal quality.In other words, a correlation between a comparison result of the signalquality and the threshold and reception beamforming gain increase ordecrease may change according to a communication environment.

For example, in a case where there is more than one base station 610,which are referred to as the base stations 610, so as to providemulti-path communication, the correlation may change according towhether a radio channel of the base stations 610 and the MS 620 is in aLine Of Sight (LOS) environment or in a Non-LOS (NLOS) environment.Specifically, in a case where the radio channel of the base stations 610and the MS 620 is in the LOS environment, raising a receptionbeamforming gain, that is, narrowing a beam width, may increasereception intensity. On the contrary, in a case where the radio channelis in the NLOS environment, lowering the reception beamforming gainwithin a predetermined range, that is, widening the beam width, mayincrease the reception intensity because a number of multi-paths mayincrease when the beam width widens. Whether the radio channel is in theLOS or the NLOS environment may be determined using an amount of changein a channel Therefore, although not shown in FIG. 9, the base stations610 may determine whether the radio channel is in the LOS or the NLOS bycomparing an amount of change in the channel with a specific threshold,and the base stations 610 may increase or reduce the receptionbeamforming gain according to a correlation corresponding to thedetermination result.

For another example, the correlation may change according to themovement velocity of the MS 620. Specifically, in a case where themovement velocity of the MS 620 is less than the specific threshold,raising the reception beamforming gain, that is, narrowing the beamwidth, may increase reception intensity. On the contrary, in a casewhere the movement velocity of the MS 620 is greater than the specificthreshold, reducing the reception beamforming gain within apredetermined range, that is, widening the beam width, may increase thereception intensity. The base stations 610 may determine the movementvelocity of the MS 620 according to position information measured orreported by the MS 620, or according to an amount of change in thechannel Therefore, although not shown in FIG. 9, the base stations 610may estimate the movement velocity of the MS 620 and may compare themovement velocity with a specific threshold, and then, the base stations610 may increase and/or decrease the reception beamforming gainaccording to a correlation corresponding to the comparison result.

In the exemplary embodiments of the present invention described withreference to FIGS. 5 and 6, an increase or decrease amount of abeamforming gain, and a beamforming gain value, are directly expressedin unit of dB. However, the present invention is not limited thereto,and the increase or decrease amount of the beamforming gain, and thebeamforming gain value, may be expressed using a beam width.

Also, in the exemplary embodiments of the present invention describedwith reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, the base station 510/610 may determinewhether to control a beamforming gain. However, the present invention isnot limited thereto, and the MS 520/620 may determine whether to controla beamforming gain. In such a case, the MS 520/620 may compare receptionsignal quality with a threshold and may determine whether to control thebeamforming gain according to the comparison result. In the case wherethe beamforming gain control is determined, the MS 520/620 may controlthe beamforming gain of the MS 520/620 or may request the base station510/610 in order to control the beamforming gain of the base station510/610.

Also, in the exemplary embodiments of the present invention describedwith reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, the base station 510/610 may requestthe MS 520/620 to control the beamforming gain. However, according toanother exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the base station510/610 may not request the MS to control the beamforming gain but,rather, control the beamforming gain of the base station 510/610.

Also, in the exemplary embodiments of the present invention describedwith reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, the base station 510/610 may determinewhether to control the beamforming gain using signal quality. However,according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thebase station 510/610 may estimate a mobility of the MS 520/620, and maydetermine whether to control the beamforming gain depending according tothe mobility of the MS 520/620. For example, the mobility may beestimated via a change degree of signal quality or may be estimated viaa position estimation of the MS 520/620. For example, the positionestimation may be determined via a Global Positioning System (GPS). Thatis, in a case where the mobility is large, the beamforming gain control,which in this case may be a beam width reduction, may hinder receptionpower improvement. Therefore, in the case where the mobility is large,the base station 510/610 may determine to not control the beamforminggain.

FIG. 7 illustrates an operating procedure of a base station, forcontrolling a transmission beamforming gain of MS in a wirelesscommunication system according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the base station receives a signal, such as an RFsignal, from an MS via a radio channel in step 701. Here, the MStransmits a signal having directionality via beamforming. When receivingthe signal from the MS, the base station may perform receptionbeamforming.

After receiving the signal, the base station proceeds to step 703 inorder to measure a signal quality of the signal sent by the MS. Forexample, the signal may be one of a traffic signal for data transfer, acontrol signal for control information transfer, a sounding signal forchannel estimation, a pilot signal, or any other similar and/or suitablesignal transmitted from an MS to a BS. The signal quality may be any ofthe signal quality values discussed with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

Subsequently, the base station proceeds to step 705 and may compare themeasured signal quality with a threshold. Here, the threshold may be onevalue or a plurality of values and represents an objective, orpredetermined, reception signal quality. After performing thecomparison, the base station proceeds to step 707 in order to transmit acontrol signal for a transmission beamforming gain of the MS accordingto the result of the comparison with the at least one threshold. Inother words, the base station may transmit a control message indicatingan increase or decrease of the transmission beamforming gain.Correlation between the comparison result and increase or decrease ofthe transmission beamforming gain may change according to a signalquality value that is in use, or other similar factors.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in a casewhere the measured signal quality is less than the threshold, the basestation may transmit a control message in order to increase thetransmission beamforming gain of the MS by a specific value+β_(t). Onthe contrary, the measured signal quality may be equal to or greaterthan the threshold, and the base station may transmit a control messagein order to reduce the transmission beamforming gain of the MS by aspecific value−β_(t) or may transmit a control message in order tomaintain the transmission beamforming gain of the MS. For example, inthe case where the measured signal quality is greater than the thresholdand greater than the other threshold, then the base station may transmita control message in order to reduce the transmission beamforming gain.In a case where the measured signal quality is greater than thethreshold but less than the other threshold, then the base station maytransmit a control message in order to maintain the transmissionbeamforming gain.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in acase where the measured signal quality is less than the threshold, thenthe base station may transmits a control message in order to reduce thetransmission beamforming gain of the MS by a specific value−β_(t). Inaddition, in a case where the measured signal quality is equal to orgreater than the threshold, then the base station may transmit a controlmessage in order to increase the transmission beamforming gain of the MSby a specific value+β_(t) or in order to maintain the transmissionbeamforming gain. For example, in a case where the measured signalquality is greater than the threshold and greater than the otherthreshold, the base station may transmit a control message in order toincrease the transmission beamforming gain. In a case where the measuredsignal quality is greater than the threshold but less than the otherthreshold, the base station may transmit a control message in order tomaintain the transmission beamforming gain.

As described above, the correlation between a comparison result of thesignal quality and the threshold and transmission beamforming gainincrease or decrease may change. Accordingly, in order to determinewhether to control the transmission beamforming gain according to thecorrelation, the base station may further determine whether a radiochannel with the MS is in a LOS environment or whether the movementvelocity of the MS exceeds a specific threshold.

In the above exemplary embodiments, in the cases of an increase, adecrease, and maintenance or not changing of the transmissionbeamforming gain, a control message is transmitted. However, accordingto another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the basestation may transmit the control message only in case of increasing thetransmission beamforming gain, without consideration of reduction ormaintenance of the transmission beamforming gain. That is, thetransmission beamforming gain control of the MS may be performed only inorder to increase the gain. Also, in addition to a parameter indicatingan increase or decrease of the gain, the control message may furtherinclude at least one of a fine direction control parameter α_(t) forcontrolling a beam direction and an amount of change in a transmissionpower value ΔP.

FIG. 8 illustrates an operating procedure, of an MS, for controlling atransmission beamforming gain of the MS in a wireless communicationsystem according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, the MS may transmit a signal, such as an RF signal,to a base station via a radio channel in step 801. For example, thesignal may be one of a traffic signal for data transfer, a controlsignal for control information transfer, a sounding signal for channelestimation, a pilot signal, and any other similar and/or suitable signalthat may be sent from the MS to the BS.

After that, the MS proceeds to step 803 in order to receive, from thebase station, a control message indicating transmission beamforming gaincontrol. The control message may indicate an increase, a decrease, or amaintaining of the transmission beamforming gain. In the case ofindicating an increase or a decrease of the transmission beamforminggain, the control message may include at least one of an amount ofincrease, an amount of decrease, and a gain value after an increase ordecrease. In the case of indicating the maintaining of the transmissionbeamforming gain, the control message may include at least one of theamount of increase or decrease being set to ‘0’, and informationindicating that there is no change to the transmission beamforming gain.According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, inthe case of indicating the maintaining of the transmission beamforminggain, the control message may not be received.

Subsequently, the MS proceeds to step 805 in order to control thetransmission beamforming gain according to the indication of the controlmessage. For example, in the case where the control message includescontrol information for increasing the transmission beamforming gain ofthe MS by a specific value+β_(t), the MS may control the gain of thetransmission beamforming using a value obtained by adding +β_(t) to acurrent transmission beamforming gain. On the contrary, in the casewhere the control message includes control information for reducing thetransmission beamforming gain of the MS by a specific value−β_(t), thenthe MS may control the gain of the transmission beamforming using avalue obtained by subtracting β_(t) from the current transmissionbeamforming gain of the MS. Also, in the case where the control messageis not received or a maintaining of the current transmission beamforminggain is indicated, the MS may continue to maintain the currenttransmission beamforming gain of the MS.

In addition to a parameter indicating an increase or decrease of thetransmission beamforming gain, the control message may further includeat least one of a fine direction control parameter α_(t) for controllinga beam direction and an amount of change in a transmission power valueΔP. In this case, the MS may further control the beam direction and thepower value.

FIG. 9 illustrates an operating procedure, of a base station, forcontrolling a reception beamforming gain of an MS in a wirelesscommunication system according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 9, the base station may transmit a signal, such as anRF signal, to the MS via a radio channel in step 901. For example, thesignal may be one of a traffic signal for data transfer, a controlsignal for control information transfer, a pilot signal for channelestimation, a synchronization signal for obtaining synchronization, andany other signal that may be transmitted from a base station to an MS.

After that, the base station proceeds to step 903 in order to receive areport of signal quality measured by the MS with respect to the signal.For example, the signal quality report may be received via a feedbackchannel allocated by the base station, any the signal quality mayinclude at least one of RSS, SNR, SIR, SINR, BER, and PER, or mayinclude at least one of a deviation and a variance representing anaverage amount of change of the RSS, SNR, SIR, SINR, BER, and PER.Alternatively, according to another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, the reception signal quality may be a value representing themobility of the MS and may be a movement velocity or a change value of aposition of the MS.

Next, the base station proceeds to step 905 in order to compare thereported signal quality with a threshold. Here, the threshold may be onevalue or a plurality of values. The threshold represents objectreception signal quality.

After performing the comparison in step 905, the base station proceedsto step 907 in order to transmit a control signal for the receptionbeamforming gain of the MS according to a result of comparison of thesignal quality with the at least one threshold. In other words, the basestation may transmit a control message indicating an increase ordecrease of the reception beamforming gain. Correlation between thecomparison result and the increase or decrease of the receptionbeamforming gain may change according to a specific exemplaryembodiment. For example, the correlation may depend on what type ofsignal quality measurement is in use.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in a casewhere the measured signal quality is less than the threshold, the basestation may transmit a control message in order to increase a receptionbeamforming gain of the MS by a specific value+β_(r). On the contrary,in a case where the measured signal quality is equal to or greater thanthe threshold, the base station may transmit a control message in orderto reduce the reception beamforming gain of the MS by a specificvalue−β_(r) or may transmit a control message in order to maintain,i.e., not change, the reception beamforming gain of the MS. For example,in a case where the measured signal quality is greater than thethreshold and greater than another threshold, the base station maytransmit a control message in order to reduce the reception beamforminggain. In a case where the measured signal quality is greater than thethreshold but less than another threshold, the base station may transmita control message in order to maintain the reception beamforming gain.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in acase where the measured signal quality is less than the threshold, thebase station may transmit a control message ordering to reduce thereception beamforming gain of the MS by a specific value−β_(r). Inaddition, in a case where the measured signal quality is equal to orgreater than the threshold, the base station may transmit a controlmessage in order to increase the reception beamforming gain of the MS bya specific value+β_(r) or in order to maintain the reception beamforminggain of the MS. For example, in a case where the measured signal qualityis greater than the threshold and greater than another threshold, thebase station may transmit a control message in order to increase thereception beamforming gain. In a case where the measured signal qualityis greater than the threshold but less than another threshold, the basestation may transmit a control message in order to maintain thereception beamforming gain.

As described above, the correlation between a comparison result of thesignal quality and the threshold and the reception beamforming gainincrease or decrease may change. Accordingly, in order to determinewhether to control the reception beamforming gain according to thecorrelation, the base station may further determine whether a radiochannel with the MS is in a LOS environment or whether the movementvelocity of the MS exceeds a specific threshold.

In the above exemplary embodiments, in the cases of an increase, adecrease, and maintenance of the reception beamforming gain, a controlmessage is transmitted. However, according to another exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, the base station may transmit thecontrol message only in case of increasing the reception beamforminggain without consideration of decreasing or maintaining the receptionbeamforming gain. That is, according to an exemplary embodiment, thereception beamforming gain control of the MS may be performed only inorder to increase the gain. Also, in addition to a parameter indicatingan increase or decrease of the reception beamforming gain, the controlmessage may further include at least one of a fine direction controlparameter α_(r) for controlling a beam direction.

FIG. 10 illustrates an operating procedure, of an MS, for controlling areception beamforming gain of the MS in a wireless communication systemaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 10, the MS may receive a signal, such as an RF signal,from a base station via a radio channel and may measure signal qualityof the received signal in step 1001. For example, the signal may be oneof a traffic signal for data transfer, a control signal for controlinformation transfer, a sounding signal for channel estimation, a pilotsignal or any other similar and/or suitable signal that may betransmitted from a base station to an MS.

Subsequently, the MS proceeds to step 1003 in order to transmit a reportof the measured signal quality to the base station. For example, thereport of the signal quality may be transmitted via a feedback channelallocated by the base station, and the signal quality may include atleast one of RSS, SNR, SIR, SINR, BER, and PER, or may include at leastone of a deviation and a variance representing an average amount ofchange of the RSS, SNR, SIR, SINR, BER, and PER. Alternatively,according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thereception signal quality may be a value representing the mobility of theMS and may be a movement velocity or a change value of a position of theMS.

After that, the MS proceeds to step 1005 in order to receive, from thebase station, a control message for controlling the receptionbeamforming gain. The control message may indicate an increase, adecrease, or a maintaining of the reception beamforming gain. In thecase where the control message indicates an increase or a decrease ofthe reception beamforming gain, the control message may include at leastone of an amount of increase, an amount of decrease, and a gain valueafter increase or decrease. In the case where the control messageindicates the maintaining of the reception beamforming gain, the controlmessage may include at least one of an amount of increase or an amountof decrease as being set to ‘0’ and information indicating themaintaining of the reception beamforming gain. According to anotherexemplary embodiment of the present invention, in a case where thecontrol message indicates maintaining of the reception beamforming gain,the control message may be not transmitted and/or not received.

Next, the MS proceeds to step 1007 in order to control the receptionbeamforming gain according to the indication of the control message. Forexample, in a case where the control message includes controlinformation for increasing the reception beamforming gain of the MS by aspecific value+β_(t), then the MS may control the gain of the receptionbeamforming using a value obtained by adding +β_(t) to the currentreception beamforming gain. On the contrary, in a case where the controlmessage includes control information for reducing the receptionbeamforming gain of the MS by a specific value−β_(t), then the MS maycontrol the gain of the reception beamforming using a value obtained bysubtracting β_(t) from the current reception beamforming gain of the MS.Also, in a case where the control message is not received or maintainingof the current reception beamforming gain is indicated, then the MS maycontinue to maintain the current reception beamforming gain of the MS.

In addition to a parameter indicating an increase or decrease of thereception beamforming gain, the control message may further include afine direction control parameter α_(t) for controlling a beam direction.In this case, the MS may further control the beam direction.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a base station in a wirelesscommunication system according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 11, the base station may include a communication unit1110, a storage unit 1120, and a controller 1130. The communication unit1110 may transmit and/or receive a signal, such as an RF signal, via aradio channel. For example, the communication unit 1110 may include adigital block (not shown) and an RF block (not shown). The digital blockmay include an encoder, a decoder, a Digital-to-Analog Convert (DAC),and other similar and/or suitable elements for signal communication. TheRF block may include an amplifier, a mixer, an oscillator, and othersimilar and/or suitable elements for signal communication. Also,according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thecommunication unit 1110 may include an element for transmissionbeamforming and an element for reception beamforming. The element forbeamforming is described in detail with reference to FIGS. 13A to 13C.The storage unit 1120 may store at least one program used for operatingthe base station, as well as setting information, and other similarand/or suitable information stored for operation of the base station.

The controller 1130 may control overall functions of the base station.For example, the controller 1130 may perform a beam training procedure.Also, the controller 1130 may control the communication unit 1110 inorder to perform beamforming according to a beam index determined viathe beam training procedure. Particularly, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, the controller 1130 may perform abeamforming gain control procedure, and may control the communicationunit 1110 in order to control a beamforming gain according to a gainvalue determined via the beamforming gain control procedure. For thebeamforming gain control procedure, the controller 1130 may include asignal quality measure unit 1132 for measuring signal quality of anuplink signal, a beamforming gain determination unit 1134 fordetermining whether to control a beamforming gain and an amount ofchange of the beamforming gain, and a control message processor 1136 forgenerating a control message for informing the determined amount ofchange. The operation of the controller 1130, for the beamforming gaincontrol procedure is described below in detail.

In a case of an uplink beamforming gain control, the controller 1130 maymeasure signal quality of an uplink signal received from the MS via aradio channel, and may compare the measured signal quality with athreshold. Also, in a case of a downlink beamforming gain control, thecontroller 1130 may transmit a signal to the MS using the radio channelvia the communication unit 1110, and may then receive a report on asignal quality measured by the MS with respect to the signal.Subsequently, the controller 1130 may compare the reported signalquality with a threshold. In addition, the controller 1130 may determinean increase or decrease of the transmission beamforming gain of the MSaccording to the comparison result of the signal quality and thethreshold, and may transmit the control message indicating the increaseor decrease of the transmission beamforming gain via the communicationunit 1110.

A correlation between the comparison result and the increase or decreaseof the transmission and/or reception beamforming gain may changeaccording to a specific exemplary embodiment. According to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, in a case where the measured signalquality is less than the threshold, the controller 1130 may determine toincrease the transmission and/or reception beamforming gain of the MS bya specific value+β_(t). In a case where the measured signal quality isequal to or greater than the threshold, the controller 1130 determinesto reduce the transmission and/or reception beamforming gain of the MSby a specific value−β_(t), or may determine to maintain the transmissionand/or reception beamforming gain of the MS. According to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, in a case where the measured signalquality is less than the threshold, the controller 1130 may determine toreduce the transmission and/or reception beamforming gain of the MS by aspecific value−β_(t). In a case where the measured signal quality isequal to or greater than the threshold, the controller 1130 maydetermine to increase the transmission and/or reception beamforming gainof the MS by a specific value+β_(t), or may determine to maintain thetransmission and/or reception beamforming gain of the MS.

Also, in order to determine whether to control the transmission and/orreception beamforming gain according to the correlation, the controller1130 may further determine whether a radio channel with the MS is in aLOS environment or whether the movement velocity of the MS exceeds aspecific threshold.

In the above exemplary embodiments, in cases of an increase, a decrease,and maintenance of the transmission and/or reception beamforming gain, acontrol message is transmitted. However, according to another exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, the controller 1130 may transmitthe control message only in a case of increasing the transmissionbeamforming gain without consideration of reducing or maintaining thetransmission beamforming gain. In other words, in the case where thereported signal quality is equal to or greater than the threshold, thecontroller 1130 may not transmit the control message.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an MS in a wirelesscommunication system according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 12, the MS includes a communication unit 1210, astorage unit 1220, and a controller 1230. The communication unit 1210may transmit and/or receive a signal via a radio channel. For example,the communication unit 1210 may include a digital block (not shown) andan RF block (not shown). The digital block may include an encoder, adecoder, a DAC, and other similar and/or suitable elements for signalcommunications. The RF block may include an amplifier, a mixer, anoscillator, and other similar and/or suitable elements for signalcommunications. Also, according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention, the communication unit 1210 may include an elementfor transmission beamforming and an element for reception beamforming.The element for beamforming is described in detail with reference toFIGS. 13A to 13C. The storage unit 1220 may store at least one programused for operating the MS, as well as setting information, and any othersimilar and/or suitable information used for operating the MS.

The controller 1230 may control overall functions of the MS. Forexample, the controller 1230 may perform a beam training procedure.Also, the controller 1230 may control the communication unit 1210 inorder to perform beamforming according to a beam index determined viathe beam training procedure. Particularly, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, the controller 1230 may perform abeamforming gain control procedure, and may control the communicationunit 1210 in order to control a beamforming gain according to a gainvalue determined via the beamforming gain control procedure.Furthermore, the controller 1230 may include a signal quality measureunit 1232 for measuring signal quality of a downlink signal, and acontrol message processor 1234 for determining whether a beamforminggain changes or an amount of change of the beamforming gain by analyzinga control message received from the base station. An operation of thecontroller 1230, for the beamforming gain control procedure, isdescribed below in detail.

In a case of an uplink beamforming gain control, the controller 1230 maytransmit a signal to the base station using a radio channel via thecommunication unit 1210, and then may receive a control message forcontrolling transmission beamforming gain from the base station.Subsequently, the controller 1230 may control the transmissionbeamforming gain according to indication of the control message. Forexample, in a case where the control message includes controlinformation for increasing the transmission beamforming gain of the MSby +β_(t), the controller 1230 may control the gain of the transmissionbeamforming using a value obtained by adding +β_(t) to the currenttransmission beamforming gain. On the contrary, in a case where thecontrol message includes control information for reducing thetransmission beamforming gain of the MS by a specific value−β_(t), thecontroller 1230 may control the gain of the transmission beamformingusing a value obtained by subtracting β_(t) from the currenttransmission beamforming gain of the MS. Also, in a case where thecontrol message is not received or maintaining of the currenttransmission beamforming gain is indicated, the controller 1230 maycontinue to maintain the current transmission beamforming gain of theMS.

In a case of a downlink beamforming gain control, the controller 1230may receive a signal from the base station via a radio channel, maymeasure signal quality of the received signal, and may then transmits areport of the measured signal quality to the base station via thecommunication unit 1210. After that, the controller 1230 may receive acontrol message for controlling a reception beamforming from the basestation. In addition, the controller 1230 may control the receptionbeamforming gain according to the indication of the control message. Forexample, in a case where the control message includes controlinformation for increasing the reception beamforming gain of the MS by+β_(t), the controller 1230 may control the gain of the receptionbeamforming using a value obtained by adding +β_(t) to the currentreception beamforming gain. On the contrary, in a case where the controlmessage includes control information for reducing the receptionbeamforming gain of the MS by a specific value−β_(t), the controller1230 may control the gain of the reception beamforming using a valueobtained by subtracting β_(t) from the current reception beamforminggain of the MS. Also, in a case where the control message is notreceived or maintaining of the current reception beamforming gain isindicated, the controller 1230 may continue to maintain the currentreception beamforming gain of the MS.

In a case where the MS uses a beamforming technique in order to controlthe gain of the transmission and reception beamforming, the constructionof the transceiver for an RF signal and beamforming are described indetail with reference to FIGS. 13A to 13C.

FIGS. 13A to 13C are block diagrams illustrating a beamforming apparatusaccording to a beamforming method in a wireless communication systemaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Beamforming may be classified into digital beamforming and analogbeamforming according to a point at which the beamforming is performed.The digital beamforming and the analog beamforming differ according towhether a beamforming parameter for determining a beam direction isdetermined before a Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) or after the DAC.In a case of the digital beamforming, the beamforming parameter may bemultiplied by a bit stream before the DAC. On the contrary, in a case ofthe analog beamforming, the beamforming parameter controls a magnitudeand a phase of each signal to be transmitted via each antenna after theDAC. Also, in a case where both the digital beamforming and the analogbeamforming are performed, mixed beamforming is also possible.

FIG. 13A illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for performingdigital beamforming Referring to FIG. 13A, an information bit stream maybe converted into a complex symbol stream via an encoder 1311 and amodulator 1312. The bit stream may be successive information valueshaving a value of ‘0’ or ‘1’, and the bit stream may be one or more bitstreams input to each independent path. In a case where an independentbit stream is transmitted for each antenna, complex symbols may bemultiplexed and provided to each path. In a case where the same bitstream is transmitted from all antennas, the same complex symbols may beprovided to all paths. The complex symbols may be multiplied bybeamforming parameters Wd1, . . . , WdN by precoders 1313-1 to 1313-N ofeach path, and then converted to Orthogonal Frequency DivisionMultiplexing (OFDM) symbols via Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT)operators 1314-1 to 1314-N, Parallel to Serial (P/S) converters 1315-1to 1315-N, and Cyclic Prefix (CP) insertion units 1316-1 to 1316-N.After that, the OFDM symbols, which are digital signals, may beconverted to analog signals by DACs 1317-1 to 1317-N. After that, analogsignals of respective paths may be converted to RF signals by mixers1319-1 to 1319-N, and amplified via Power Amplifiers (PAs) 1320-1 to1320-N, and then transmitted via respective ones on N antennas. Asdescribed above, in a case of the digital beamforming, the DAC 1319 isprovided for each antenna, and a beamforming parameter is multiplied bya complex symbol before the DAC 1319. Therefore, in a case where thenumber of antennas are N, the beamforming parameters of the digitalbeamforming become Wd1, . . . , WdN, and each factor of the parameter isalso a complex number. Also, in a case where a plurality of antennagroups form one antenna, a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO)technique may be applied. In this case, beamforming parameters of Wd1, .. . , WdN are defined for each antenna group, and each factor of thebeamforming parameter becomes a matrix or a vector value formed ofcomplex numbers. In a case where the MIMO technique is applied, besidesthe precoders 1313-1 to 1313-N for the beamforming, a precoder block forthe MIMO technique may exist independently from the beamforming precodeblocks 1313-1 to 1313-N.

FIG. 13B illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for performinganalog beamforming Referring to FIG. 13B, an information bit stream maybe converted to complex symbols via an encoder 1321 and a modulator1322. The bit stream may be successive information values having a valueof ‘0’ or ‘1’. The complex symbols may be converted to OFDM symbols viaIFFT operator 1323, P/S converter 1324, and CP insert unit 1325. Afterthat, the OFDM symbols, which are digital signals, may be converted toanalog signals by a DAC 1326, and converted to RF signals via a mixer1327. The RF signal may be input to a path of each antenna, then itsmagnitude and phase are changed by phase/magnitude converters 1328-1 to1328-N, then the RF signal is amplified via PAs 1329-1 to 1329-N, andthen transmitted via each of N antennas. As described above, the analogbeamforming may determine the direction of a beam to be transmitted ateach antenna by channel-coding, modulating, and analog-converting aninformation bit stream, and then changing the magnitude or phase of theanalog signal before the signal is transmitted at the antenna. Forexample, in a case where beamforming parameters for each antenna areWa1, . . . , WaN, each factor of the beamforming parameter includes atleast one of a magnitude value and a phase value of a signal for eachantenna. The analog beamforming may change the magnitude value and thephase value simultaneously, or control only the phase value. Also, in acase where a plurality of antenna groups forms one antenna, the MIMOtechnique may be applied. In this case, beamforming parameters of Wa1, .. . , WaN are defined for each antenna group, and each factor of thebeamforming parameter becomes a matrix or a vector value formed of atleast one of the magnitude or the phase value of a signal for eachantenna group.

FIG. 13C illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for performingmixed beamforming Referring to FIG. 13C, an information bit stream maybe converted into complex symbols via an encoder 1331 and a modulator1332. The bit stream may be successive information values having a valueof ‘0’ or ‘1’, and the bit stream may be one or more bit streams inputto each independent path. Similarly to FIG. 13A, the complex symbols maybe multiplied by beamforming parameters Wd1, . . . , WdN by precoders1333-1 to 1333-N of each path, and then converted to OFDM symbols viaIFFT operators 1334-1 to 1334-N, P/S converters 1335-1 to 1335-N, and CPinsertion units 1336-1 to 1336-N. After that, the OFDM symbols, whichare digital signals, may be converted to analog signals by DAC 1337-1 to1337-N, and then the analog signals are converted to RF signals bymixers 1338-1 to 1338-N. After that, similarly to FIG. 13B, themagnitude and phase of digital beamformed signals of each path may bechanged by phase/magnitude converters 1341-11 to 1341-N, . . . , and1341-N1 to 1341-NN of respective antenna paths, and signals to betransmitted via the same antenna are summed by summing units 1342-1 to1342-N. The summed signals may be amplified via power amplifiers 1343-1to 1343-N of respective antenna paths, and then transmitted via each ofN antennas. As described above, mixed beamforming includes both thedigital beamforming and the analog beamforming. In this case, thebeamforming parameter includes Wd1, . . . , WdN for the digitalbeamforming, and Wa1, . . . , WaN for the analog beamforming. The twokinds of beamforming parameters control beamforming independently orusing a specific relation equation.

FIGS. 13A to 13C illustrate a block diagram for transmissionbeamforming. In a case of reception beamforming, the DAC is replaced byan Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC), the precoder is replaced by apost-coder, the encoder is replaced by a decoder, the modulation isreplaced by demodulation, and the direction of the amplifier and themovement direction of a signal are changed to be in an oppositedirection. In a case of a non-OFDM system, the IFFT operators, the P/Sconverters, and the CP insert units of the above-described blocks may beomitted.

FIG. 14 illustrates an operating procedure of a communication node in awireless communication system according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIG. 14, the communication node may determine a beamdirection via a beam training procedure in step 1401. That is, thecommunication node may perform communication with a counterpart node,and may determine a beam direction for communication with thecounterpart node in order to effectively perform transmission and/orreception of a signal. Here, the beam direction includes at least one ofa transmission beam direction and a reception beam direction. Forexample, in a case of determining the reception beam direction, thecommunication node may receive a signal using a plurality of candidatebeam directions, and may select an optimized beam direction usingreception signal intensity of each beam direction. Also, in a case ofdetermining the transmission beam direction, the communication node maytransmit a signal using a plurality of candidate beam directions, andmay select an optimized beam direction using reception signal intensityof each beam direction measured by the counterpart node.

After determining the beam direction, the communication node mayproceeds to step 1403 in order to determine whether beamforming gaincontrol is to be used. The beamforming gain control may be determined bythe communication node or the counterpart node. For example, in a casewhere control of the reception beamforming gain is determined by thecommunication node, the communication node may measure signal quality ofa reception signal, compare the signal quality with a threshold, andthen determine whether to control the reception beamforming gaindepending on the comparison result. Also, in a case where control of thetransmission beamforming gain is determined by the communication node,the communication node may receive signal quality measured by thecounterpart node, compare the signal quality with a threshold, anddetermine whether to control the transmission beamforming gain dependingon the comparison result. Also, in a case where control of thebeamforming gain is determined by the counterpart node, thecommunication node may determine whether to control the transmissionbeamforming gain or the reception beamforming gain via a messagereceived from the counterpart node.

When the beamforming gain control is to be used, then the communicationnode proceeds to step 1405 in order to control the transmissionbeamforming gain by changing a beam width. For example, in a case wherethe beamforming gain increases, the communication node may reduce a beamwidth. In a case where the beamforming gain reduces, the communicationnode may increase the beam width. In other words, in the case where thebeamforming gain increases, the communication node forms a relativelynarrow beam, and in the case where the beamforming gain reduces, thecommunication node forms a relatively wide beam.

The exemplary embodiments of present invention provide a technique forcontrolling the transmission and/or reception beamforming gain of MS viasignaling between a base station and the MS. According to anotherexemplary embodiment of the present invention, the above-describedtransmission and/or reception beamforming gain procedure is alsoapplicable between MS and MS. In other words, the exemplary embodimentsof present invention are applicable to Device to Device (D2D)communication. In this case, in the above procedure, MS on one sideoperates as the base station and MS on the other side operates as the MSof the above procedure. According to the exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention, since the gain of beamforming is adaptivelycontrolled in a wireless communication system, performance improvementby beamforming is maximized.

Embodiments of the present invention according to the claims anddescription in the specification can be realized in the form ofhardware, software or a combination of hardware and software.

Such software may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Thecomputer readable storage medium stores one or more programs (softwaremodules), the one or more programs comprising instructions, which whenexecuted by one or more processors in an electronic device, cause theelectronic device to perform methods of the present invention.

Such software may be stored in the form of volatile or non-volatilestorage such as, for example, a storage device like a Read Only Memory(ROM), whether erasable or rewritable or not, or in the form of memorysuch as, for example, Random Access Memory (RAM), memory chips, deviceor integrated circuits or on an optically or magnetically readablemedium such as, for example, a Compact Disc (CD), Digital Video Disc(DVD), magnetic disk or magnetic tape or the like. It will beappreciated that the storage devices and storage media are embodimentsof machine-readable storage that are suitable for storing a program orprograms comprising instructions that, when executed, implementembodiments of the present invention. Embodiments provide a programcomprising code for implementing apparatus or a method as claimed in anyone of the claims of this specification and a machine-readable storagestoring such a program. Still further, such programs may be conveyedelectronically via any medium such as a communication signal carriedover a wired or wireless connection and embodiments suitably encompassthe same.

Although the invention has been shown and described with reference tocertain exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims and their equivalents. Therefore, thescope of the present invention should not be limited to theabove-described exemplary embodiments but should be determined by notonly the appended claims but also the equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for operating a terminal in a wirelesscommunication system, the method comprising: receiving, via atransceiver of the terminal from a base station, a first message forrequesting information regarding whether the terminal supports at leastone parameter related to a beamforming operation by the terminal; andtransmitting, via the transceiver of the terminal to the base station, asecond message comprising the information, wherein the information isused by the base station to control the beamforming operation of theterminal.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one parametercomprises at least one of beamforming gains supported by the terminal,beam directions supported by the terminal, or a range of the beamforminggains.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second message includesinformation regarding an adjustable range of a beamforming gainassociated with antennas of the terminal.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the information regarding the adjustable range of thebeamforming gain comprises at least one of a maximum beamforming gainvalue, a minimum beamforming gain value, a number of sections betweenthe maximum beamforming gain value and the minimum beamforming gainvalue, candidates of beamforming gain values, a beamforming precodingmatrix set, or an index of a supportable beamforming precoding matrixset.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from thebase station, a message for indicating to adjust the at least oneparameter associated with antennas of the terminal.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one of abeamforming gain associated with the antennas of the terminal or abeamwidth associated with the antennas of the terminal.
 7. The method ofclaim 5, further comprising: adjusting the at least one parameter by atleast one of a digital beamforming or an analog beamforming.
 8. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the message comprises at least one of anamount of increase of a beamforming gain, an amount of decrease of thebeamforming gain, a gain value after the beamforming gain increases, ora gain value after the beamforming gain reduces.
 9. A method foroperating a base station in a wireless communication system, the methodcomprising: transmitting, via a transceiver of the base station to aterminal, a first message for requesting information regarding whetherthe terminal supports at least one parameter related to a beamformingoperation by the terminal; and receiving, via the transceiver of thebase station from the terminal, a second message comprising theinformation, wherein the information is used by the base station tocontrol the beamforming operation of the terminal.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one ofbeamforming gains supported by the terminal, beam directions supportedby the terminal, or a range of the beamforming gains.
 11. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the second message includes information regarding anadjustable range of a beamforming gain associated with antennas of theterminal.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the information regardingthe adjustable range of the beamforming gain comprises at least one of amaximum beamforming gain value, a minimum beamforming gain value, anumber of sections between the maximum beamforming gain value and theminimum beamforming gain value, candidates of beamforming gain values, abeamforming precoding matrix set, or an index of a supportablebeamforming precoding matrix set.
 13. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising: transmitting, to the terminal, a message for indicating toadjust the at least one parameter associated with antennas of theterminal.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one parametercomprises at least one of a beamforming gain associated with theantennas of the terminal or a beamwidth associated with the antennas ofthe terminal.
 15. An apparatus for a terminal in a wirelesscommunication system, the apparatus comprising: a transceiver; and atleast one processor coupled with the transceiver and configured to:control the transceiver to receive, from a base station, a first messagefor requesting information regarding whether the terminal supports atleast one parameter related to a beamforming operation by the terminal,and control the transceiver to transmit, to the base station, a secondmessage comprising the information, wherein the information is used bythe base station to control the beamforming operation of the terminal.16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one parametercomprises at least one of beamforming gains supported by the terminal,beam directions supported by the terminal, or a range of the beamforminggains.
 17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the second messageincludes information regarding an adjustable range of a beamforming gainassociated with antennas of the terminal.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17,wherein the information regarding the adjustable range of thebeamforming gain comprises at least one of a maximum beamforming gainvalue, a minimum beamforming gain value, a number of sections betweenthe maximum beamforming gain value and the minimum beamforming gainvalue, candidates of beamforming gain values, a beamforming precodingmatrix set, or an index of a supportable beamforming precoding matrixset.
 19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one processoris further configured to control the transceiver to receive, from thebase station, a message for indicating to adjust the at least oneparameter associated with antennas of the terminal.
 20. The apparatus ofclaim 19, wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one of abeamforming gain associated with the antennas of the terminal or abeamwidth associated with the antennas of the terminal.
 21. An apparatusfor a base station in a wireless communication system, the apparatuscomprising: a transceiver; and at least one processor coupled with thetransceiver and configured to: control the transceiver to transmit, to aterminal, a first message for requesting information regarding whetherthe terminal supports at least one parameter related to a beamformingoperation by the terminal, and control the transceiver to receive, fromthe terminal, a second message comprising the information, wherein theinformation is used by the base station to control the beamformingoperation of the terminal.
 22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the atleast one parameter comprises at least one of beamforming gainssupported by the terminal, beam directions supported by the terminal, ora range of the beamforming gains.
 23. The apparatus of claim 21, whereinthe second message includes information regarding an adjustable range ofa beamforming gain associated with antennas of the terminal.
 24. Theapparatus of claim 23, wherein the information regarding the adjustablerange of the beamforming gain comprises at least one of a maximumbeamforming gain value, a minimum beamforming gain value, a number ofsections between the maximum beamforming gain value and the minimumbeamforming gain value, candidates of beamforming gain values, abeamforming precoding matrix set, or an index of a supportablebeamforming precoding matrix set.
 25. The apparatus of claim 21, whereinthe at least one processor is further configured to control thetransceiver to transmit, to the terminal, a message for indicating toadjust the at least one parameter associated with antennas of theterminal.
 26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least oneparameter comprises at least one of a beamforming gain associated withthe antennas of the terminal or a beamwidth associated with the antennasof the terminal.